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Their two flights took over 12 hours and spanned 6,000
miles. A long, bumpy ride over gravel roads required an additional three hours.
But, eventually, Los Altos, California, residents Mary Graf and her husband,
Jack, reached Chilean Patagonia. There, Mary felt, was where they would really
begin their journey—on their own two feet.

For the next week, the pair would
trek through the rolling sand dunes of the Atacama Desert, among the jagged,
rocky peaks of Torres del Paine, and hike to the blue-tinged Grey Glacier, in
the Southern Patagonian Ice Field. For 66-year-old Mary, walking wasn’t just a
means of getting around, but the right way to see the most beautiful parts of
her destination. “I like to walk in order to experience the country I’m in,”
she said. “I don’t want to race through it.”

Travel writer Bruce Chatwin once
wrote, “Walking is a virtue, tourism is a deadly sin.” The observation seems
particularly apt today, when travelers can zip around their destinations on
scooters, e-bikes, Segways and ATVs (not to mention zip lines, Powerizer stilts
and Zorb balls). As Chatwin knew, when it comes to really appreciating the
sights of a new place, nothing beats making your own tracks.

Perhaps that’s why walking tours
are seeing such explosive growth in the travel industry. For example, Country
Walkers, a Vermont-based company that offers more than 100 guided and
self-guided walking itineraries around the world, has seen a 30 percent
increase in its private tours in the past few years, says senior manager Tricia
Dowhan.

“Walking fever,” as Dowhan calls
it, is catching on and transcends all age groups. But it’s especially popular
with a younger generation that’s always had access to the latest transportation
technology (and perhaps wants a time-out from it). It also has particular
appeal for those who want to embrace emerging destinations, such as Burma and
Namibia—both new offerings from Country Walkers this year. Similarly, tour
outfitter Butterfield & Robinson has introduced walking trips to Rwanda’s lush
Nyungwe National Park and Iceland’s craggy primordial interior; and Mountain
Travel Sobek has debuted walking itineraries in Croatia’s azure-lapped
Dalmatian islands and along the ancient cliff-side pathways of Colombia’s
Barichara region.

Since walking is totally free,
using a tour company is not always necessary. But whether travelers go solo or
join a group—or choose to explore Turkey’s Aegean Coast or Kyoto’s
Philosopher’s Path—it’s not a bad idea to keep Mary Graf’s words in mind: “One
step at a time is the best motto you can have for most everything in life.”